Hawk Eyes
by DJmiso
Summary: Seen from a bird’s eye view. [revised] [M/F]
1. My Shining Knight

disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.

Max

It was a beautiful day in the countryside.

The birds were singing, the sky was clear, the sun was hot.

No, seriously, the sun was hot. Too hot. It was summer. The end of summer anyway. You would think that being this far up north the weather would be a bit more lenient. That wasn't the case. Any minute now, I feel like I'm one turkey baste closer to becoming a baked bird kid.

It didn't help that I was wearing a jacket, but you know how it went: old habits, long lifespans.

I came along with my mom on this outing to this ranch just to get out of the house, but I was kind of regretting it now. Miles out, the ranch was huge and owned by an elderly woman whose appearance was quite deceiving.

Deceiving in that she had more strength than I would have given her credit for. Quick, too. Before I knew what was happening, she had my jaw in her grasp. She pulled me down to her level, which was half my size, by the way. Never would I have suspected a woman so small and decrepit-looking to have such strength, but here we were. I should have seen it, but if you were to see the woman yourself you wouldn't be so quick to put me on the chopping block.

She was small, her skin was leathery, and her hair was nearly all gray. In fact, I was so taken off guard, I just didn't react at all. Maybe that was a good thing. Mom didn't exactly condone violence and the woman wasn't at the prime to handle my kind of violence, despite her show of strength. In the past, I would have instinctively reacted and that would have ended badly.

The exact words out of her mouth after turning my face this way and that was:

"You are wonderfully and wholly made, my dear." Ok...

That's not something you hear everyday, folks. So you could imagine my reaction toward that. Anyway, that was fifteen minutes ago. My mom had just kinda stood there before walking off following after the woman after giving me this bewildered and apologetic look. She was in the stables now, checking up on this pregnant horse. I made sure to stay clear of the building since mom would be using her veterinary equipment. Despite the years I was still a little uneasy around them.

My sister had disappeared to... wherever she disappeared to. Probably after that boy she couldn't stop talking about all summer. Ella spoke about him so much, I practically knew the boy myself without having to meet him in person.

As for Ella becoming my sister.

It started out some years ago when I met her during my wild rescue mission to save my baby girl, angel. You've probably heard of that story by now. Who hasn't? It was such a big part of my life that I would be shocked if someone hadn't written a book about it.

I was no longer with the flock, although that was voluntary this time and under no circumstances did I have to cook up another rescue mission for anyone. I had been wandering around the country, looking for a place to stay when Ella found me and we had been living happily together with our mom ever since.

Okay, so it wasn't that simple; I have my own apartment now and I have more tell. It was a time I was trying valiantly to forget, but we did move out of Arizona. We were now more toward the north where I went to school, made friends, blah, blah. After three years, I was finally starting to get over my past and look toward the future.

Yeah, right.

But hey, it wasn't like I wasn't trying. And I did make some progress.

In some cases.

Looking out over the large field at the back of the house was peaceful. I could even make out what looked to be a lake? I would have to check that out later. The house was separated by land for miles from the next one. It was beautiful, but my more paranoid side told me it was also a great chance for getting kidnapped and no one being the wiser.

On the other hand, it was huge and well worth it to explore, not to mention, all the privacy.

A hazy gray of clouds was slowly covering the sun, casting the flowering field in dim lighting, and giving some measure of relief from the oppressing heat. There was an eerie quality to it that made it beautiful at the same time, too. A ring of trees surrounded the area. A white fence cut them off, but there was a gate that led into the forest where there was a dark shadow coming out of the woodwork—

Wait, what?

I did a double take, stopping midstep toward the house. The shape was large enough to have cause for alarm but I didn't make a sound. I was tensed as I waited for the figure to come closer, making out features with my sharp hawk-eyes. All the while my mind kept coming up with different scenarios: the school had found me, it was an Eraser—er, a giant, hulking, if the size was any indication; it was a machine designed to specifically capture special bird kids like me. The more I stood there, the more wild my ideas were getting. Finally, I began to make out a distinct shape.

It wasn't an Eraser, thank God. It was a guy.

He had short cropped hair that fell over a single dark eye.

A dark eye that I found — familiar?

He was riding on top of a horse that was the color of grey glinting silver in the hazy sunlight. At any other time, and if I was the more romantic type like Ella, I would have said something along the lines of, "he was prince charming, riding on his mighty steed coming to sweep me away."

He was handsome. I'll give him that.

We were looking each other up and down. At least, that's what I figured. His face was confused as I felt, but for the life of me I couldn't put my finger on where I had seen him before.

He opened his mouth and that's when I remembered.

"Max?"

\--


	2. Dinner for One

disclaimer: i don't own maximum ride.

Ella

I didn't find Zack inside the barn so I closed the door behind me and went outside.

Ahhhh, the sun was so hot.

I almost didn't want to come if not for the opportunity to see Zack again.

Zack, who was the most handsomest, dreamiest guy I had ever seen. With that perfect hair and that perfect smile. And also really good fashion sense.

I mean, I've seen cute guys before, and there were certainly those that came close, but Zack? He was just dreamy.

I've told this to Max before, but I don't think she was interested. That wasn't surprising for her. Usually she didn't care what guys looked liked; someone could have a crush on her and she wouldn't give them the time of day.

Some would say she was stuck up, but that's just how Max was. If you weren't a threat to her, then you were just background noise, unless you were like, really close.

Hmmmm, I hummed to myself as I circled around the building. If I was a hot, emo kid, where would I go?

I'm not a stalker or anything if that's what you're thinking. I was just... very excited to see him. It's been exactly a month since my Mom last made a visit to Miss Montoya's ranch. Most of her appointments were taken inside the city where her office was located, so house calls were rare. But due to the nature of the care the horse my Mom was looking after needed—

Wait. I stopped. Is that Max? And, oh! There's Zack! I had to force myself not to run as I made my way over to them. Despite being out in the open, neither of them seem to notice me. In fact, they didn't seem to be talking, either, staring hard at one another and looking... incredulous? Inexplicably, my stomach started doing flips but ignoring the feeling, I raised my hand to shout.

Max

Fang and I stood there for what felt like hours. I just didn't know what to say. At least, I did. But there was so much going through my mind that I didn't know where to start. Somehow I don't think "long time no see" or "funny bumping into you here" would go over pretty well. Luckily, I didn't have to. Ella came practically bouncing up to us.

"Hey, guys! What's going on?" She looked at Fang. "Hey, Zack," she said breathily with a bat of her eyelashes.

"Hey, Ella," he responded with just as much enthusiasm.

Note the sarcasm?

Wait, wait, hold up a sec. "This is Zack?" I asked Ella with surprise, pointing. I turned to Fang. "You're Zack?"

"Uh, yeah, Max. Didn't I tell you?" Ella said in a duh tone.

"You told me about him, not how he looks."

Pretty sure she did, but I don't think I was really listening since Ella spoke about boys all the time.

"Pretty sure I did," she said, unknowingly reading my thoughts. "You just weren't listening."

I didn't say anything, too busy having a meltdown in my head.

"What's the matter with you?" Ella demanded with a frown.

"Oh. Nothing. Nothing at all." Nothing… except that I'd called Fang cute earlier! I didn't know who he was at the time, granted, but all the same I could only be glad that Fang wasn't the one that could read minds. As it was, I was having a hard time looking him in the eyes.

Naturally, I wasn't convincing. That's why I was thankful when Mom and Nadie came out of the stable. Nadie was the old woman I'd mentioned earlier. Beside my Mom, she was tiny. Honestly. Mom wasn't taller than I was.

"Oh, good, so you've met already," Mom said as she walked up to us.

Define "met," Mom. If you mean met him when we were just lab babies locked up in cages to be experimented on by crazy scientists with a lack of morality for human life...

"Great, then we can jump straight into refreshments. Who wants lemonade?"

"I do!" I threw my hand in the air. I was sure Fang had raised his brow at me, but I didn't look at him.

I was glad for the distraction. I practically ran inside ahead of them while Fang went away to put the horse he was riding on in the stable, or something, but I could have sworn I felt his eyes on me the whole way.

When he reached the kitchen, he took his drink with him up the stairs without a word. As soon as he disappeared, everyone's eyes fell on me. The urge to hide behind my glass was a strong one. I managed to ignore the feeling and gave them all a look in return. "What?"

"Did I miss something?" Mom was the one to ask, squinting.

"Not that I could think of," I said innocently which to her wasn't so innocent. Mom by now could see through my innocent act. Her look only became more suspicious. She seemed to finally drop the subject altogether as she and Nadie left the room, leaving just Ella and I. Taking a sip of lemonade, I looked around the kitchen that looked to have an old western feel to it. It also looked traditional with a mix of reds, browns, and off-whites. The only thing missing were two swinging open doors. There were a lot of plants, though. I think I remember seeing a garden earlier.

I was so into my thoughts I didn't notice that Ella had left. When I looked up she wasn't there. One guess could tell me where she had gone to.

I no longer wanted to be in the house so I went outside to sit on the porch. Wind swept loose strands of my hair from its ponytail across my face. I brushed them aside as I looked off into the distance. There were more houses along the horizon. Far enough to not be so invasive but too far to be of any use to someone screaming for help.

But my mind wasn't so much on the houses as they were in my thoughts. There were so many questions running through my head. Most important of all: what was Fang doing here?

The last time I had seen him was when I'd left him with his mother. The rest of the flock had found their own family by then. They'd each went off after scouring most of the country for them. I mean, we'd always be a family and nothing could ever change us being the flock, but they wanted something a little more secure. To put it simply, they'd reached the end of their rope. They were tired of always running and fighting the School. I myself thought that the safest place would be with each other but you could probably guess how that went down. I was the only one with the chip in my arm so it wasn't like they were going to be found.

In the end, it was just Fang and I. He didn't seem to mind, but by then I was on a roll. I wanted him to find his family. There was no reason why he shouldn't be happy like the others.

It was harder to find his Mom. She was thought to be dead but a lucky break in Oklahoma told us different. We found her in Utah and that's where things got a little awkward.

Fang wanted me to stay, his Mom didn't.

I mean, she didn't say it out loud but I could tell. She wanted to bond with him since she hadn't seen him in years and I was in the way. Fang didn't think so, but I didn't want to be the reason for the rift that was forming between them both. After all the side-eyes and frowns, I did him the favor of going off on my own. Now that I think back on it, Fang's name should have tipped me off. But really, how was I to know that the Zack Ella was talking about and the Fang were the same guy?

So, ah, yeah, that's the gist of it. More things happened after that but that's not really important.

I almost didn't notice the door opening up behind me until I heard footsteps. I looked up in time as Ella sat beside me on the step. Together, we were quiet as the wind swept through the front yard, bringing with it the scent of manure and rosemary, but I could tell there was something on her mind. The nervous ticks in her hands were beginning to annoy me. I knew she had something to say and I knew she knew that, too. Just as she turned to me the door opened again.

Ella shot to her feet while I on the other hand remained sitting. What's up with her? She wouldn't meet my gaze so I looked up and was greeted by the dark of Fang's eyes.

Boy, who knew time could fly so quickly (pun unintentional). It almost didn't seem like that many years had passed. It felt longer, but it was, in fact, three. And it showed. Fang looked older. We always did look grown for our age but he looked, how do i say this? More mature? His eyes were sharper, jaw more square, he was taller, almost impossibly, and... And...

Why was I staring at him like this? I turned away from him before he noticed but I don't think I was very successful. Sure enough, when I looked up at him again there was a knowing smirk on his face.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

I was Momentarily distracted as I forced out the words that had inexplicably lodged themselves in my throat. "Ready? For what?"

I shouldn't have asked.

\--

The door behind me closed with a soft click as I entered my apartment. I dropped my keys on the table beside me before leaning against the door, resting my head back on the wood to close my eyes. The day had went by pretty quickly and guess what? It didn't suck.

For one thing, Fang made the suggestion for us to go horseback riding. Okay, so it was Ella's idea but I didn't think he would readily agree.

I always thought of horse riding as some prepubescent girl's dream or hobby. I mean, I'd seen him earlier on his horse but at the time I was more distracted by the fact that the guy my sister had been obsessing about all summer was Fang.

Anyway, it wasn't too bad. I was a little annoyed that I didn't get to pick my own horse. It had looked like something I would ride if I had ever been raised on a ranch, but Fang wouldn't have it. Something about "wild and untamed" or some other. Anyway, as soon as we got on the field I'd near completely forgotten the reason why I was mad. On the field, it felt like I was flying. It felt free. My spirits felt lifted. Of course, it could never come close to the real thing, but it was invigorating all the same, and I didn't want it to stop. I almost didn't, if not for Ella snapping me out of it on the phone. Couldn't really talk to someone who was halfway across the field.

Fang hadn't joined us but that was because he'd already had his fill earlier and didn't want to do so again. After finally getting off the saddle, I found out why.

Fang was the one to drop us home since Mom had left earlier with the promise that I'd watch over my sister. And now here we were.

Somehow as I looked around at my apartment, it felt even emptier than before despite all the furniture filling it and the numerous pictures on the wall. I lived on my own, having moved out from my Mom's almost a year ago. The apartment wasn't big, it was a one bedroom with all the necessities a simple bird kid needed, including a kitchen even though I couldn't use it.

I tried not to dwell on the feeling as I went to the bathroom to get the scent of horse and manure off of me before heading to the kitchen. I was starving. I got some leftovers out of the fridge and popped it into the microwave. That was the extent of my cooking ability. You would think over the years I would have gotten better but in fact, I'd gotten worse. This was the food leftover from having dinner at my Mom's. I wouldn't want to risk burning the place down because I decided boiling water wouldn't be too hard an accomplishment.

I could always just live with Ella and Mom; it would be so much easier, right? But I also wanted to be independent. I'd always been the leader of my flock. Now, without them being around anymore, there wasn't anyone to boss around but myself. And Mom wasn't exactly the type to be bossed around, though I would never think to do so. She was the reason I was living here on my own in the first place. She had connections with the landlord and as long as Mom regularly checked up on me and the rent was in her name, then I didn't run the risk of getting social services involved. It wouldn't be long before I was able to legally put it in my name anyway.

The other reason... Well, if the School ever decided to come for me again then my Mom and Ella would be out of harm's way.

That is, if the School could ever pick up their pieces again.

The microwave beeped. I pulled out the bowl that had a big block of cheesy lasagna in it, grabbed a fork and two cans of soda, and brought them with me to the living room where i turned on my laptop to watch season two of Dexter.

\--


	3. Breaking and Entering

life is busy.

disclaimer: i don't own maximum ride.

Max

It was the afternoon of the next day after work that I received an, well, I couldn't say unexpected... but I didn't think he would come, either.

And yes, I did have a job. It was the only way to pay for the things I wanted, and while my mom paid for rent, I wasn't going to have her pay for everything else. I paid for my clothes, I paid for my food, I paid for the things I have in my house...

Opening my door, I was immediately greeted by a cat running quickly over to my feet. I looked down in surprise at her, kneeling to pet her back and feeling the rumble of her purr through her pristine white fur.

"Hey, there. What're you doing inside my apartment, Mrs. Abbeys must be looking all over for you."

The last thing I expected was for a deep voice to answer.

"She was scratching at the door so I let her in."

I startled into throwing my Panera bag clear across the room with a yelp. The cat that had been at my feet bolted away in fright and went who knows where, but I barely paid attention to where she went. In a fighting stance, I looked sharply toward the source of the voice to see none other than Fang sitting there, on one of my couches, looking like he hadn't broken into my home and waited for me to come inside like some kind of stalker. I'd completely missed him upon coming in. In the darkness of my living room, he'd blended in easily.

Seeing the smirk on his face, I scowled at him while relaxing my stance. "Fang, you scared the crap out of me."

He shrugged carelessly, still with that infuriating smirk on his face. "I try."

Sending him a sharp glare, I picked up my discarded paper bag and went into the kitchen, "What the hell are you doing here?"

And just like that, the air in the room became heavy and serious. I already knew what he wanted even before he opened his mouth to speak, "We need to talk."

God, if those words didn't sound like one of those cheesy break up lines. I looked at him over my shoulder, then to my balcony doors where my sheer white curtains were billowing in the wind coming in through the open entry. "So you broke into my apartment?" I asked, hoping to delay the inevitable.

Again, he shrugged.

Some help.

Wanting to dispel the uncomfortable silence, I turned around and looked through one of my cabinets. I pulled out a can of tuna then grabbed a can opener from the drawer near the sink and proceeded to cut open the top. The sound of the can opening worked to draw Mrs. Abbeys' cat from wherever she had been hiding. Before I could shake the contents onto a small plate, she was at my feet, making impatient noises as she waited for me to put it on the floor. She barely gave me a chance to set it down before digging in. Smiling, I watched her for a moment, until it faded, and I tried to collect my thoughts. I could feel Fang's expectant gaze on me like a tangible touch, making me have to suppress a shiver.

I don't know why I hadn't expected him to show up, especially when I had been waiting for him to do so all night. When he didn't, I had convinced myself that he had let it go, and I went to bed.

Yeah, right. Erasers would fly before that happened.

I played with the idea of pretending like I didn't know what he was talking about, but just as quickly discarded it. Not only had I waited too long to answer but he would quickly see through my ruse so my only other option was stalling.

So I announced, "I'm going to change my clothes." I was still wearing the ones I had from work and while I felt comfortable already in what I was in, I needed time to come up with something to tell him when I got back.

Predictably, he said nothing. I disappeared down the hall to my room. I was tempted to take a shower, making him wait even longer. He'd deserve it, breaking into my home like that. But Fang would probably think I was using it as a distraction or something to get away and come looking for me. And since I didn't actually want him to, you know, see me naked and all...

I sighed and changed into something more comfortable before walking back to the living room. He was looking out the balcony doors with his arms crossed but hearing me, he switched to watching me sit on the sofa separate from the one he was on.

We were quiet a moment. I don't know if it was because he was waiting on me to start saying something, but I still hadn't come up with anything. I'd thought all through changing my clothes but no excuse came to mind. It may have been years, but I still felt like he would see through my lies. He had been the only one who was able to read me like a book, and I doubted a few years' gap would help to rust those skills.

Then he said, "Nice place."

"Thanks," I said almost automatically. Then slower, "Mom got it for me."

He raised a brow at me.

"I wanted to be alone. You know..." I trailed off, shrugging, but God, so much for stalling. "It was the only way to keep her safe," I said firmly.

He finally seemed to get tired of waiting. "Max... what happened?" And he looked at me as if to say "and don't you lie to me," which I probably would have. I was right, it seems he still knew me better than I thought.

I sat and went over the words I wanted to say in my head. I didn't want to tell him everything. In fact, if I had my way, I wouldn't tell him anything at all. Then I opened my mouth and began to speak. Starting with when I left his house to how I traveled around the US and a little bit of Europe, to jobs I did, and all the places I'd seen. It wasn't always easy. Some jobs didn't want some orphan kid working for them, especially one that seemed like they were on the run. Sometimes I was forced to dumpster dive, other times forced to sleep out in the cold because I had no money for a motel. Nothing new. It was only luck that landed me on Jules and my current place of employment where they didn't care what my past was as long as I wasn't a fugitive and did my job well.

Of course, there were times I bumped into trouble along the way. The Erasers were always on the prowl but I told him how easily I took care of them, and kicked butt here and there. Nothing the Indescribable Max couldn't handle. There were a few close calls. I wasn't going to lie (completely anyway). I had to make it convincing in some way. Being alone was hard and even though I thought myself invincible, the reality was I wasn't prepared for everything. And I liked to think I was pragmatic.

When I was finished, he was giving me a contemplative look. I was wondering what he was thinking when he said, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you leave? You could have stayed with us. We weren't going to kick you out."

I shook my head. "You know that wasn't possible. Your mom—"

"Forget about my mother!" His outburst caught me by surprise. And him, too, it would seem. But before I could tell him anything, he cleared his face and gave me this intense look.

"You're hiding something."

I froze at that then looked away. "What makes you say that?" I said with an indifferent tone, trying to brush him off.

"Max."

"Seriously, Fang, I'm not hiding anything."

"Yes, you are. You always bite your fingernails when you have something to hide." I looked down at said fingers in surprise, one in my mouth. I didn't realize I was doing that. I quickly pulled it out, settling my hand on my lap.

"That doesn't mean I'm hiding something," I denied, scowling.

"Tell me what happened."

"Nothing."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Max, why can't you just admit that something happened and talk to me."

"Because it's none of your business!" I snapped, forcing his jaw to close with an audible click. I inhaled, took a deep breath, and clenched my fingers around the edge of my sofa. "Why don't you just let it go? You can't just break into my apartment and expect for me to tell you everything that happened."

"...you used to."

I frowned sadly at my lap. "That was years ago. You ever thought that things won't stay the same?"

"...it is for me," I heard him mutter. It didn't look like he meant for that to be said out loud.

\--


End file.
